Court Allows School District to Keep Partisan Politics out of the Classroom

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently ruled that the Board of Education of the City of New York may prohibit teachers from wearing political buttons during school but must allow teachers to distribute political literature in the school mailboxes and on union bulletin boards. See Weingarten v. Bd. of Educ. of the City of New York, No. 08 Civ. 8207, 2008 WL 4620573 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2008).

Consistent with the other court decisions upholding the right of a school district to restrict teacher expression in school, the Court found that the School Board can restrict teachers from wearing buttons that express their political views in front of students. The Court explained that "[w]hile a majority of students, particularly older students, presumably would understand that the views expressed by their teachers' campaign buttons are personal rather than institutional ... [the school district has a legitimate interest] in avoiding the entanglement of their public educational mission with partisan politics."

In contrast, the Court held that the School Board cannot prohibit teachers from distributing political literature in school mailboxes or on union bulletin boards, which are out of students' sight. Since the school district's mailboxes and bulletin boards in this case had been used for union business in the past, the Court found that the School Board may not prohibit teachers from posting political literature regarding the upcoming election.

If a similar issue regarding the distribution of political literature arises in Illinois, an Illinois court will likely consider the Local Governmental Employees Political Rights Act, 50 ILCS 135/1, et seq. Illinois courts have not dealt with this precise issue. Under the plain language of the Act, however, an employee of an Illinois School District may not engage in political activities while at work or on duty. Thus, an Illinois court may take issue with the distribution of campaign literature in school mailboxes or on union bulletin boards. For Illinois School Districts, the Act provides an additional ground for curtailing political activity that was not present in the New York court's deliberation.